On April 2, 1904 Chin Lenn-kao, Chang Sheng and a few others bought 11 ½ acres on Heart’s East Ashley Road (now 19 Waltham Park Road) to be used as a burial ground for the Chinese community, because previously, the dead were buried in local cemeteries. However, it was not developed until after the Kingston earthquake of 1907 when the Chinese merchants who had suffered losses in the earthquake, voted to use the £500 of compensation received from the British Government towards developing the Cemetery. The Cemetery was under the care of the CBA then and continues so at the present time. The first burials took place in the Cemetery in early 1912, and to date, approximately 3,201 burials have taken place there involving 84 different surnames.

By 1927 it had fallen into disrepair, and a fund-raising drive was started to effect repairs. With the £980 raised it was possible to erect a fence around the Cemetery at a cost of £98, and a pavilion and a monument were completed in the spring of 1929. The surplus of over £300 and a bank loan were used to purchase a property at 30 North Street. The rental income from the property and sales of plots at the cemetery at £5 each paid off the loan, and paid for the labourers looking after the Cemetery.

The two important Chinese festival days, Tsing Ming (aka Gah San, in spring) and Chung Yang (in autumn), were observed as days when the dead were to be honoured and remembered. Sales of lapel flowers helped pay for the day's expenses, the ceremonies were officiated by the Chairman of the Chinese Benevolent Society, and children from the Chinese Public School sang songs in memory of their ancestors.

After 1927, there were few repairs done to the cemetery. By 1956 the fence was broken in many places. People living around the cemetery, instead of walking around, walked through it. Idlers desecrated the place and animals freely grazed there. Many tombstones and tombs were damaged or disturbed. A major fund-raising drive was launched for the second renovation of the Cemetery. Eleven Fund-raising groups were organized, and contributions were collected from the Chinese community islandwide. In all, 913 persons contributed a total of £4,820. The repair work started on January 1957 and was completed in early April. At the well-attended dedication of the new fence, Mr. C. C. Pang officiated at the ceremony, and Mrs. Alexander Tie Ten-quee cut the ribbons.